Premier Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara (47*) led the lone battle after India’s top-order collapse. However, the rain god had the final say as the rain forced stumps on Day 2 with India wobble at 74/5 in the opening Test against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens on Friday.
Sri Lankan seamer Dasun Shanaka struck twice early in the day, while Suranga Lakmal took the scalp of three batsmen to keep India under the mat on the first day.
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Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin, who carried a lot of hopes, failed to perform in rain-hit conditions and lost their wickets for four runs each.
No.4 batsman Pujara faced 102 deliveries and slammed nine boundaries to reach 47 runs. The 29-year-old batsman is on the brink on his 16th Test half-century.
Concluding the Day 1 at 17/3, India lost three of their leading men early in KL Rahul (0), Shikhar Dhawan (8) and Virat Kohli (0).
The rain caused a lot of delay in the start of the Test and the day was called-off after 11.5 overs due to bad light.
On Friday, the rain returned to haunt cricket spectators. The Lunch was taken 10 minutes ahead of schedule as it started pouring in the middle. No over was played thereafter in the match.